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World of Words: Vocabulary.com Announces Fall Champions of 11th Vocabulary Bowl

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K-12 students and teachers from across the globe mastered millions of words in the Vocabulary Bowl’s most wide-reaching season yet

SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Vocabulary.com is excited to announce the winners of the Fall 2024 Vocabulary Bowl, the world’s largest academic competition celebrating excellence in vocabulary learning. More than 175,000 learners and 5,600 teachers from 1,800 schools spanning 75 countries mastered a total of 5.15 million words throughout the fall—showcasing vocabulary and literacy skills on a global stage.

This season heralded a new era of competition, with international schools, teachers and individual learners participating in their own divisions for the first time. In the U.S., schools vied for the top spots in three categories based on enrollment size: Division I (1,000 students or more), Division II (500-999 students), and Division III (up to 499 students). Teachers who inspired their students to rack up the most points were celebrated in both U.S. and international divisions.

As the results came in, it became clear which schools and learners had risen to the top.

Once again, the throne is yours: For the second consecutive season, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School clinched the title of Fall 2024 Champion, mastering a staggering 122,000 words—11,000 more than last season and nearly 50,000 ahead of runner-up Etiwanda High School. Saint Thomas Aquinas isn’t the only school with an impressive winning streak—Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy claimed first place in its division for the sixth straight season.

Welcome to the winners’ table: Congratulations are in order for Carnegie Vanguard High School, Millburn Middle School, Great Neck North Middle School and Muscatel Middle School. Each of these U.S. schools secured the top spot in their respective divisions for the first time. Millburn Middle edged out two-time divisional champion Sig Rogich Middle School in a close contest. Meanwhile, félicitations to our first-ever international school champion: École Jeannine Manual in Paris, France! This season also marked the debut of an independent learner category, with the top ten achievers representing six U.S. states and Singapore.

The Division Winners for the Fall 2024 Season are:

Division I (1,000 students or more):High School: Saint Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)Middle School: Millburn Middle School (Millburn, New Jersey)Division II (500-999 students):High School: Carnegie Vanguard High School (Houston, Texas)Middle School: Great Neck North Middle School (Great Neck, New York)Division III (up to 499 students):High School: Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy (Vacaville, California)Middle School: Muscatel Middle School (Rosemead, California)

The Division Runners Up are:

Division I (1,000 students or more):High School: Etiwanda High School (Etiwanda, California)Middle School: Sig Rogich Middle School (Las Vegas, Nevada)Division II (500-999 students):High School: Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School (Newark, New Jersey)Middle School: Oak Creek East Middle School (Oak Creek, Wisconsin)Division III (up to 499 students):High School: Moses Lake Christian Academy (Moses Lake, Washington)Middle School: Crittenden County Middle School (Marion, Kentucky)

Unlike the divisional categories, which are based on school size, the U.S., Canadian and International categories honor schools in each state, country or region that mastered the most words overall, regardless of enrollment.

The U.S. Winners are:

Crossville Middle School – Crossville, AlabamaMinto School – Minto, AlaskaSierra Verde STEM Academy – Glendale, ArizonaCentral High School – Little Rock, ArkansasEtiwanda High School – Etiwanda, CaliforniaManning School Academics & Arts – Golden, ColoradoPlainville High School – Plainville, ConnecticutUrsuline Academy – Wilmington, DelawareInspired Teaching Demo School – Washington, District of ColumbiaSaint Thomas Aquinas High School – Fort Lauderdale, FloridaJohnson County High School – Wrightsville, GeorgiaHarvest Christian Academy – Barrigada, GuamKalani High School – Honolulu, HawaiiSaint Joseph’s School – Boise, IdahoOak Lawn Community High School – Oak Lawn, IllinoisEast Central Middle School – Brookville, IndianaSacred Heart School – West Des Moines, IowaCheney Middle School – Cheney, KansasCrittenden County Middle School – Marion, KentuckyArchbishop Chapelle High School – Metairie, LouisianaWells Junior High School – Wells, MaineChesapeake Math & It PC – N High School – Laurel, MarylandDiman Regional Vocational Technical High School – Fall River, MassachusettsMayville High School – Mayville, MichiganLuverne High School – Luverne, MinnesotaJackson Academy – Jackson, MississippiSarcoxie Middle High School – Sarcoxie, MissouriLincoln County High School – Eureka, MontanaSouthwest Junior Senior High School – Bartley, NebraskaSig Rogich Middle School – Las Vegas, NevadaPelham Memorial School – Pelham, New HampshireMillburn Middle School – Millburn, New JerseySan Juan College High School – Farmington, New MexicoGreat Neck North Middle School – Great Neck, New YorkMcGee’s Crossroads Middle School – Benson, North CarolinaKindred Elementary School – Kindred, North DakotaWalnut Hills High School – Cincinnati, OhioOwasso Eighth Grade Center – Owasso, OklahomaMarist Catholic High School – Eugene, OregonDuBois Area High School – DuBois, PennsylvaniaClassical High School – Providence, Rhode IslandCatawba Ridge High School – Fort Mill, South CarolinaHarrisburg North Middle School – Sioux Falls, South DakotaFred J Page Middle School – Franklin, TennesseeArp High School – Arp, TexasJudge Memorial Catholic High School – Salt Lake City, UtahEnosburg Falls Middle High School – Enosburg Falls, VermontTrinity Christian School – Fairfax, VirginiaMoses Lake Christian Academy – Moses Lake, WashingtonJohn Adams Middle School – Charleston, West VirginiaOak Creek East Middle School – Oak Creek, WisconsinLyman Intermediate School – Lyman, Wyoming

The Canadian Provincial Winners are:

Ecole Secondaire Sainte Marguerite D’youville – St. Albert, AlbertaWest Point Grey Academy – Vancouver, British ColumbiaSussex Christian School – Sussex, New BrunswickDeninu School – Fort Resolution, Northwest TerritoriesHalifax Christian Academy – Halifax, Nova ScotiaNipigon Red Rock District High School – Red Rock, OntarioEcole Internationale Lucille-Teasdale – Brossard, QuebecMiller Comprehensive High School – Regina, Saskatchewan

The International (non-US/Canada) Winners are:

École Jeannine ManuelParis, FranceNan Hua Primary School – Jalan Lempeng, SingaporeOne Target Education – Novena, SingaporeThe Galaxy School Wadi – Gujarat, IndiaÉcole Jeannine Manuel Lille – Marcq en Baroeul, FranceShanghai SMIC Private School – Shanghai, ChinaLycée Condorcet Sydney – New South Wales, AustraliaWollongong Public School – New South Wales, AustraliaMenntaskólinn á Tröllaskaga – Ólafsfjörður, IcelandDhahran Ahliyya School – Dharan, Saudi Arabia

This season of the Vocabulary Bowl introduced a wave of exceptional newcomers, whose dedication to mastering words earned them a place among the Top Rookie Schools.

The Top Rookie Schools are:

Sig Rogich Middle School – Las Vegas, NevadaOak Creek East Middle School – Oak Creek, WisconsinFred J Page Middle School – Franklin, TennesseeWoodland Middle School – Brentwood, TennesseeNotre Dame High School – Sherman Oaks, California

“The 2024 Fall Vocabulary Bowl highlights the power of words to unite students, educators and learners from around the world,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, Vocabulary.com’s parent company. “It’s inspiring to see so many individuals—whether in classrooms or learning independently—mastering words and building skills that will last a lifetime.”

What’s next?
The Vocabulary Bowl’s Spring 2025 season started on February 1, featuring the same categories for schools, teachers and individual learners from across the world. For information about eligibility and rules, visit https://www.vocabulary.com/bowl/rules.

Building literacy skills that last beyond the Bowl
The Vocabulary Bowl combines the thrill of competition with personalized learning to make building vocabulary skills exciting and accessible for all students. Using Vocabulary.com’s adaptive technology, learners master words at their own level, earning points that contribute to their schools’ success. Teachers can gamify learning by recognizing top performers, sharing results with families and celebrating team achievements. With every mastered word, students build literacy skills that go beyond the classroom—boosting confidence, fostering teamwork and laying the foundation for lifelong learning.

About Vocabulary.com
Founded in 2010, Vocabulary.com transforms vocabulary instruction, teaching students the words they need to know to achieve more in school and life. The adaptive platform personalizes learning by identifying each student’s vocabulary needs and creating individualized learning plans. With over 15,000 curated resources aligned with textbooks, novels and English language learner content, Vocabulary.com seamlessly integrates into any curriculum. Gamified features, including the Vocabulary Bowl, engage and motivate students through fun, interactive competitions. To date, 4 million learners have answered 8 billion questions and mastered 400 million words on Vocabulary.com. Vocabulary.com joined the IXL Learning family in 2020.

Press Contact
Joslyn Chesson
IXL Learning
press@ixl.com

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SOURCE IXL Learning

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Luxor Expands LuxOS to MicroBT WhatsMiner, and MicroBT Intends for a Strategic Investment

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SEATTLE, April 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Luxor Technology Corporation (“Luxor”) announces the expansion of LuxOS firmware support to MicroBT WhatsMiner series miners, growing the LuxOS ecosystem. In addition, MicroBT, via its investment manager Inflection Technology Limited (“ITL”), has signed a term sheet to make a strategic investment into Luxor. Luxor has also committed to a US$100,000,000 purchase of MicroBT WhatsMiner hardware.

Luxor is working directly with a select group of mining partners to deploy and expand model support over time. With more than 300,000 Bitcoin mining machines already running LuxOS globally, Luxor brings to the WhatsMiner ecosystem the same enterprise-grade firmware infrastructure that large-scale mining operators rely on. MicroBT hardware represents a significant share of global Bitcoin mining capacity, and with this expansion, those operators now have access to flexible firmware features.

WhatsMiner fleets running LuxOS gain access to Power Targeting, Advanced Thermal Management, safe rapid curtailment, and faster ramp-up time — unlocking new capabilities beyond stock settings. Power Targeting delivers consistent, predictable performance across individual machines and makes infrastructure planning easier at scale. When shifting power targets, LuxOS completes the transition in 30-60 seconds while continuing to hash at higher hashrates — capturing additional hashrate. LuxOS also improves ramp-up time across curtailment events, reaching full capacity faster and reducing the unharvested hashrate lost every time machines cycle. Initial support spans select models in the M50 series. For the full list of supported models, visit docs.luxor.tech.

“We are excited to build on the MicroBT WhatsMiner platform. We are consistently impressed by their ability to execute with high-quality machines. Our clients have been asking for WhatsMiner firmware for years, and we have shipped a product that is going to help deliver significant profitability and usability benefits. We are also excited to welcome MicroBT as a strategic investor.”

— Lauren Lin, Head of Hardware and Software of Luxor

“Luxor has continued to be one of MicroBT’s trusted global partners. With their talented engineering team, we are excited they are building on top of the Whatsminer platform. We are happy to be taking a strategic position in Luxor and supporting their continued growth through this hardware partnership.”

— Dr.Yang, CEO and Co-Founder of MicroBT

Operators running LuxOS have access to Luxor’s full-stack mining experience: pool, hashrate derivatives, energy services, and Luxor Commander for fleet management — unified under a single platform. Commander includes Intelligent Miner, which keeps fleets running at peak profitability by continuously adjusting power settings based on real-time hashprice and energy prices.

Luxor is rolling out LuxOS for WhatsMiner in a phased approach, onboarding operations directly to ensure a high-quality deployment experience. Mining operations running WhatsMiner hardware can express interest in access at luxor.tech/contact.

About Luxor Technology Corporation

Luxor delivers hardware, software, and financial services that power the global compute and energy industry. Its product suite spans Bitcoin Mining Pools, ASIC Firmware, Hardware trading, Hashrate Derivatives, Energy services, a Miner Management software, Commander, and a bitcoin mining data platform, Hashrate Index.

If you are interested in contacting Luxor, please email sales@luxor.tech.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/luxor-expands-luxos-to-microbt-whatsminer-and-microbt-intends-for-a-strategic-investment-302753797.html

SOURCE Luxor Technology

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GLN Connects to Vietnam’s National QR Network, Enabling Nationwide QR Payments

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Direct access to Vietnam’s nationwide QR payment networkEnabling payments via partners’ home-market banking and fintech apps without currency exchange

SEOUL, South Korea, April 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — GLN International has launched a nationwide QR payment service in Vietnam in partnership with NAPAS, marking its direct integration into the country’s national QR payment infrastructure.

The service was introduced at a launch ceremony on April 23 in Vietnam, attended by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), NAPAS, BIDV, and Hana Bank.

GLN leads the operation of the payment system connected to Vietnam’s national QR network and has driven its technical integration, as part of Hana Financial Group’s cross-border initiatives. Hana Bank participates as the only Korean financial institution designated as a settlement bank under SBV approval.

Vietnam’s payment infrastructure is built on the VietQR Global system operated by NAPAS, linking banks and merchants nationwide. Through this integration, GLN enables users of partner apps to access the network, expanding acceptance. The partnership is also expected to support inbound use cases, allowing Vietnamese users to make QR payments in Korea via their local apps.

The service is available across tourist destinations, including Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City, across everyday merchants. Payments can be made through GLN-connected partner applications, including major Korean fintech apps such as Toss, PurpleGLN, Hana OneQ, Hana Money, and Hana Card, without currency exchange. The service is expected to expand to platforms, including Naver Pay and KB Banking App.

Seok Lee, CEO of GLN, said, “This launch marks a significant step in connecting Korea and Vietnam through a unified QR payment infrastructure. By integrating with Vietnam’s national QR network, we enable a simple payment experience for travelers using the apps they already use in their home market, without currency exchange. We will continue to lead overseas payments and cash withdrawals without physical cards.”

Meanwhile, GLN, a subsidiary of Hana Bank under Hana Financial Group, provides QR payment and QR withdrawal services across 14 countries in Asia, including Vietnam, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, and Japan, with access to more than 200 million QR merchants globally. The company is a leading cross-border payment infrastructure provider in Asia, connecting users and merchants across markets. It has also established partnerships with overseas financial platforms, including Moreta Pay (North America), DeCard App (Singapore), and Taishin Bank (Taiwan).

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gln-connects-to-vietnams-national-qr-network-enabling-nationwide-qr-payments-302753730.html

SOURCE GLN International

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VARON Celebrates 5 Years Supporting Easier Breathing for Customers Worldwide

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NEW YORK, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — VARON is celebrating a meaningful milestone, its 5th anniversary, and is taking this moment to thank customers around the world who have trusted its oxygen therapy solutions over the years. What started as a mission to make breathing support more accessible has grown into a global community of users relying on VARON’s advanced oxygen machines in their daily lives.

This anniversary is not just about the company’s growth, but about the people behind it—the individuals and families who have chosen VARON for comfort, independence, and peace of mind.

Five Years of Supporting Easier Breathing and Everyday Living

Over the past five years, VARON has focused on one simple idea: making oxygen therapy easier to use, easier to move with, and easier to trust. From home use to travel needs, the brand has continued improving its range of oxygen machines to support different lifestyles and health needs.

Today, VARON offers a full lineup that includes compact portable oxygen concentrator models and reliable at home oxygen concentrator systems designed for long-term use. Many users also prefer VARON’s lightweight oxygen concentrator options, which allow more freedom of movement without sacrificing performance.

“Our customers are at the center of everything we do,” VARON CEO shared in a message marking the anniversary. “We are deeply grateful for the trust placed in us over the past five years. Every device we create is built with real people and real daily needs in mind.”

Designed for Real Life: Home and On-the-Go Oxygen Support

VARON’s oxygen solutions are designed to fit into everyday routines—whether at home, during travel, or while staying active.

At home users continue to rely on models like the Serene 5 Home Oxygen Concentrator, which delivers steady medical-grade oxygen with quiet operation and simple controls. The Serene 3 offers a compact option for those who want efficient oxygen support in a smaller footprint.

For users needing flexibility, the VH-2 Pro Home Oxygen Concentrator provides adjustable flow settings and added features like nebulization support, making it a practical choice for daily home use.

On the portable side, VARON continues to expand independence for users who need oxygen on the move. The VP-8G Ultra Portable Oxygen Concentrator stands out for its ultra-lightweight design at just 4.37 lbs, making it easy to carry while traveling or running errands. The VP-6 Continuous Portable Oxygen Concentrator and VP-2 Portable Oxygen Concentrator offer additional options with adjustable flow settings and dependable oxygen delivery.

Each portable oxygen concentrator is designed with user comfort in mind—lightweight, easy to operate, and built for mobility without stress.

A Simple Way to Say Thank You: Anniversary Discounts and Free Gifts

To celebrate its 5th year, VARON is launching a limited-time global appreciation event with special savings across its entire product range.

Customers can enjoy featured anniversary offers:

18% OFF sitewide across all oxygen machinesFree VARON gifts, including a $30 store gift card and extra nasal cannulas with every machine purchaseUp to 40% OFF selected featured productsAutomatic discounts applied at checkout—no codes needed

Customers can also save more with bundle options such as the VP-8G Super Bundle and extra battery packages for VP-6 and VP-2 models.

“These anniversary offers are our way of saying thank you,” VARON CEO shared. “We want to make it easier for more people to access reliable oxygen support at home and on the go.”

Looking Ahead with Customers at the Center

As VARON moves into its sixth year, the company remains focused on improving its oxygen therapy technology and expanding accessibility worldwide. Future development will continue to focus on making portable oxygen concentrator devices lighter, more efficient, and easier to use in everyday life.

The goal remains simple: to help more people breathe easier and live with greater confidence and independence.

About VARON

VARON is a trusted provider of oxygen therapy solutions, offering a wide range of at home oxygen concentrator systems, portable oxygen concentrator devices, and advanced oxygen machines designed for home, travel, and personal use. The company is committed to creating lightweight oxygen concentrator technology that supports comfort, mobility, and better quality of life.

For more information on VARON’s 5th anniversary offers and full product lineup, customers are encouraged to visit the official VARON website.

Media Contact:
VARON Oxygen Concentrator
Email: support@varoninc.com
Website: https://varoninc.com/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/varon-celebrates-5-years-supporting-easier-breathing-for-customers-worldwide-302753790.html

SOURCE Varon oxygen concentrator

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